{"id":838405,"date":"2025-04-02T04:12:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T09:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/mark-cuban-backs-skylight-a-tiktok-alternative-built-on-blueskys-underlying-technology\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T04:12:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T09:12:21","slug":"mark-cuban-backs-skylight-a-tiktok-alternative-built-on-blueskys-underlying-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/mark-cuban-backs-skylight-a-tiktok-alternative-built-on-blueskys-underlying-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Cuban backs Skylight, a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky\u2019s underlying technology"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Skylight<\/a>, a startup taking on TikTok with a more open alternative, is launching its mobile app to the public on Tuesday after just 10 weeks of active development. The app, which is backed by Mark Cuban and others, is now one of many to build on top of the AT Protocol <\/a>\u2014 the same technology that underpins the social network Bluesky<\/a> and a growing number of other apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Developed by co-founders Tori White (CEO) and Reed Harmeyer (CTO), Skylight offers a short-form video app experience with many familiar features, including an in-app video editor; the ability to comment, like, and share videos; set up your own user profile; and follow others.<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s also built on the AT Protocol<\/a> (or \u201cATProto\u201d for short), users will immediately be tapped into Bluesky\u2019s network of over 33.8 million users<\/a>. That means videos posted on Skylight can be seen and engaged with by users on Bluesky and other ATProto-based apps, like the more photo-centric app Flashes<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong>Skylight Social<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The company is funded by a pre-seed round from Cuban, who said earlier this year that he wanted to fund a TikTok alternative built on the AT Protocol<\/a>. Leslie Feinzaig\u2019s Graham & Walker Venture Fund<\/a> also invested.<\/p>\n

White, who used to be a travel influencer and is now a self-taught software developer living in Seattle, says she and co-founder Hermeyer were inspired to create Skylight when they first heard that TikTok was getting banned in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

In preparation for the ban, which is currently on pause<\/a>, White had backed up her TikTok videos. But she still worried about losing access to her community and comments. She and Hermeyer had already been playing around with ATProto and saw the potential.<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong>Skylight Social<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe first thing that interested us about ATProto was that Bluesky was not failing,\u201d Harmeyer told TechCrunch at the ATmosphere Conference in Seattle in March<\/a>. \u201cWe didn\u2019t see the \u2018fail whale,\u2019\u201d he said, a reference to the graphic that appeared in Twitter\u2019s early days<\/a> when the app was constantly crashing. \u201cThat made us feel comfortable about the underlying technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harmeyer and White soon realized this was an ideal time to build a new social app on the protocol that could be \u201cban-proof.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tapping into her influencer background, White began documenting Skylight\u2019s development on TikTok, which helped bring exposure to the product and build a following of potentially interested users. <\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong>Skylight Social<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe started with distribution,\u201d White explained. \u201cI actually made a video before we ever wrote a line of code for this\u00a0\u2026 [so] everyone can follow our journey as we build,\u201d she told TechCrunch at the conference. \u201cWe were like, oh my gosh, we are building this thing that we think is so cool, but no one cares yet. So we have to build a way to tell people about it so that they would<\/em> care, because we know people need it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Today, White\u2019s @buildwithtori TikTok profile<\/a> has nearly 50,000 followers, many of which turned into early testers.<\/p>\n

Like Bluesky, Skylight supports video uploads of up to three minutes in length, a recent increase<\/a> from the one-minute-long videos supported previously. But White sees Skylight becoming more than just a decentralized TikTok clone.<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong>Skylight Social<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She hints that Skylight in the future will allow users to customize their feed, including by utilizing new gestures beyond swiping and scrolling.<\/p>\n

Other features in the works include support for sounds, duets, stitching, bookmarks, and playlists. <\/p>\n

The app is in beta on the Google Play Store and is now available publicly on Apple\u2019s App Store after initial testing. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\tView Bio <\/svg><\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Sarah Perez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Skylight, a startup taking on TikTok with a more open alternative, is launching its mobile app to the public on Tuesday after just 10 weeks of active development. The app, which is backed by Mark Cuban and others, is now one of many to build on top of the AT Protocol \u2014 the same technology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":838406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4189,2648,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-838405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-backs","8":"category-cuban","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}